In order to protect information, the ability to quickly prevent access to stored data may be useful. For example, individuals utilizing cloud computing may want to be able to wipe clean a main memory of a cloud machine. Another example is physical access to shared physical resources such as servers. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices may retain their contents for a period of time without power or without refreshing. Unauthorized parties with physical access may use known ways such as cold-boot attacks to exploit DRAM devices. Also, persistent memory technologies such as phase-change memory can be very slow to write or erase while posing security concerns such as the theft of a non-volatile dual inline memory module (DIMM). The tedious process of erasing by overwriting all memory with some pattern may not be fast enough to prevent access to the data.